Earlier, amid repeated claims by President Trump that Washington would be “securing” and “keeping” Syria's oil, US media reported that as many as 800 US troops would be kept in the war-torn country to keep the black gold out of the hands of both Daesh (ISIS)* and Damascus, the oil's legitimate owner.
US claims to Syria's oil fields are absolutely illegitimate and have no basis in international law, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.
“They [the US] acknowledge and openly state that they are present there [in Syria] because of oil fields. No one has a right to Syrian resources. They came here, travelling across thousands of kilometers, and said ‘We will evaluate the oil fields of this country'. This contradicts the norms of international law,” Cavusoglu said, his remarks quoted by the A Haber tv channel.
President Trump: ‘I Like Oil, We're Keeping the Oil'
In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that the US would be “keeping the oil” of Syria, with Pentagon Chief Mark Esper confirming that the US mission in Syria will now be to prevent the country's oil stocks from falling into the hands of either terrorists or the Damascus government.
The statements were made as the US had pulled troops out of areas of northern Syria, including near sensitive areas between Kurdish-controlled areas and the Turkish border, shortly before Turkey began an operation in northern Syria targeting…
